Without plant, people could not live. We eat plants. We breathe the oxygen（氧气）that plants produce. And we need plants for another reason: we need them for their beauty.
Imagine a world with no plants. Imagine no flowers with their sweet smells, their beautiful colors and their lovely shapes. Imagine when the wind blows, not being able to hear the leaves in the trees or watch the branches sway（摇摆）from side to side.
Everywhere people need the beauty of plants. That is why we have parks full of trees and flowers. That is why people always try to design houses with room for some grass and a garden.
Do you talk to your plants? Do you give them love and attention?
Peter Tompkins and Christopher Bird, writers of a book called THE SECRET LIFE OF PLANTS, tell of an experiment in which two seeds were planted in different places. While the plants were growing, one plant was given love and hopeful ideas. The other plant was given only hopeless ideas. After six months, the loved plant was bigger. Under the earth it had more and longer roots; above the earth, it had a thicker stem (茎) and more leaves. According to the passage, which of the following is right?
| A．If there are no flowers, there will be no sweet smells. |
| B．Without plants, we can’t hear the wind. |
| C．We plant trees to watch the branches sway from side to side. |
| D．We need plants not only for food and oxygen but also for their beauty. |
In the experiment, the plants were________.
| A．talked to in two different ways |
| B．of different kinds |
| C．both given love and attention |
| D．grown in the same place |
At the end of six months,________.
| A．the plants were of the same size |
| B．one plant had longer roots while the other had a thicker stem |
| C．one plant had longer roots than the other and had a thicker stem |
| D．one plant had a thicker stem while the other plant had more leaves |
The experiment has proved（证明） that________.
| A．without plants people could not live |
| B．we should talk to plants and give them love |
| C．we should grow as many plants as possible |
| D．plants need plenty of water, sunshine and attention |
In recent years，American students have fallen behind in many subjects like math，science and reading. In 2005，the U.S. was number nine among the developed countries in the number of students graduating from high school.
American education officials are searching for new ways to help students learn again. One tool that is getting some attention is the use of video games.
Sixteenyearold John Diaz says he loves playing video games but doesn't like traditional schoolwork. During his summer vacation，Diaz is continuing his studies at home. That is because his courses are available on his home computer.
Florida Virtual School's head master，Julie Young，says the school teaches students with the technology they most enjoy using in and out of school.“We have so many students who feel free in our school，” Young said, “They lose interest when they go to school. And we're very hopeful that Conspiracy Code will attract the learners to really get into the detail of learning.”
Conspiracy Code is a video game that teaches U.S. history. Students guide two heroes in a quest to stop a conspiracy to change the past. Along the way，students learn about events such as the Civil War，and report back to their teacher who is a spy ．
John Diaz says he enjoys American history now.“I like to do the game every day，” he said.In the first paragraph，we can learn that American students________.
| A．do better in science than reading |
| B．do not want to go to college |
| C．have been less interested in studies recently |
| D．do worst in math among the developed countries |
How does John Diaz continue to study in summer vacation?
| A．By having an experienced tutor. |
| B．By going to a vacation camp. |
| C．By studying on the computer. |
| D．By watching videos. |
Conspiracy Code is a video game that________.
| A．introduces the ways of finding a spy |
| B．teaches students American history |
| C．helps students learn computers |
| D．trains people to become heroes |
What is the text mainly about?
| A．Video games becoming new teaching tools. |
| B．How Conspiracy Code helps students study. |
| C．How Florida Virtual School teaches students. |
| D．American officials caring about education. |
When my son was a teenager he already knew he wanted things. He wanted nice things and he wanted to get them by himself.He never depended upon us to provide for him.He gladly accepted the room and other different necessities we gave him，but when it came to the luxuries (奢侈品)，or the extra things of life，he knew he would have to make his own way.
At the age of 13，he started talking to me about working.His sister had worked at a local amusement park for several years as her first job so he gave that some thought. He had us drive him to the park and he went in and applied. Within two days he was called back to go to work. His sister had been a model employee and the park didn't even ask what he was able to do.
He worked at least 20 hours a week at the local amusement park. With his first week check he came home with a big smile. He had made something like $60 for his four days of afterschool efforts，and he wanted to thank us for our contribution to his wealth. He needed transportation both to and from work so we would take him there and back；no matter when the park closed，we would be there.
With his very first check，he insisted on treating me and his dad. He took us and his sister to an expensive restaurant. We had a wonderful time there and we spent his entire check. He didn't care；he knew he had to take care of those who had made it possible for him to have the check in the first place. He had always been a generous boy，perhaps too generous sometimes，but very loving.In his teens，the boy________.
| A．lived a hard life |
| B．lived an independent life |
| C．never wanted expensive things |
| D．never asked his parents for luxuries |
The boy got a parttime job easily at the amusement park because of________.
| A．his great abilities |
| B．his sister's good example |
| C．his independence |
| D．his sister's good advice |
What does the underlined part “our contribution” in Paragraph 3 refer to?
| A．The parents' encouragement. |
| B．The family's support. |
| C．The parents' lift. |
| D．The family's comfort. |
The passage was most probably written by________.
| A．a proud mother | B．a kind father |
| C．a generous woman | D．a generous man |
One evening in February 2007, a student named Paula Ceely brought her car to a stop on a remote road in Wales. She got out to open a metal gate that blocked her path .That’s when she heard the whistle sounded by the driver of a train. Her Renault Clio was parked across a railway line. Seconds later, she watched the train drag her car almost a kilometre down the railway tracks.
Ceely’s near miss made the news because she blamed it on her GPS (导航仪). She had never driven the route before. It was dark and raining heavily. Ceely was relying on her GPS, but it made no mention of the crossing. “I put my complete trust in the device and it led me right into the path of a speeding train,” she told the BBC.
Who is to blame here? Rick Stevenson, who tells Ceely’s story in his book When Machines Fail Us, points the finger at the limitations of technology. We put our faith in digital devices, he says, but our digital helpers are too often not up to the job. They are filled with small problems. And it’s not just GPS devices: Stevenson takes us on a tour of digital disasters involving everything from mobile phones to wireless keyboards.
The problem with his argument in the book is that it’s not clear why he only focuses on digital technology, while there may be a number of other possible causes. A map-maker might have left the crossing off a paper map. Maybe we should blame Ceely for not paying attention. Perhaps the railway authorities are at fault for poor singalling system. Or maybe someone has studied the relative dangers and worked out that there really is something specific wrong with the GPS equipment. But Stevenson doesn’t say.
It’s a problem that runs through the book. In a section on cars, Stevenson gives an account of the advanced techniques that criminals use to defeat computer-based locking systems for cars. He offers two independent sets of figures on car theft; both show a small rise in some parts of the country. He says that once again not all new locks have proved reliable. Perhaps, but maybe it’s also due to the shortage of policemen on the streets. Or changing social circumstances. Or some combination of these factors.
The game between humans and their smart devices is amusing and complex. It is shaped by economics and psychology and the cultures we live in. Somewhere in the mix of those forces there may be a way for a wiser use of technology.
If there is such a way, it should involve more than just an awareness of the shortcomings of our machines. After all, we have lived with them for thousands of years. They have probably been fooling us for just as long.What did Paula Ceely think was the cause of her accident？
| A．She was not familiar with the road. |
| B．It was dark and raining heavily then. |
| C．The railway workers failed to give the signal. |
| D．Her GPS device didn’t tell her about the crossing. |
The phrase “near miss” (Paragraph 2) can best be replaced by______.
| A．close hit | B．heavy loss |
| C．narrow escape | D．big mistake |
Which of the following would Rick Stevenson most probably agree with?
| A．Modern technology is what we can’t live without. |
| B．Digital technology often falls short of our expectation. |
| C．Digital devices are more reliable than they used to be. |
| D．GPS error is not the only cause for Ceely’s accident. |
In the writer’s opinion, Stevenson’s argument is _______.
| A．one-sided | B．reasonable |
| C．puzzling | D．well-based |
What is the real concern of the writer of this article?
| A．The major causes of traffic accidents and car thefts. |
| B．The relationship between human and technology. |
| C．The shortcomings of digital devices we use. |
| D．The human unawareness of technical problems. |
“I’ve never met a human worth cloning,” says cloning expert Mark Westhusin from his lab at Texas A&M University. “It’s a stupid endeavor.”
That’s an interesting choice of adjective, coming from a man who has spent millions of dollars trying to clone a 13-year-old dog named Missy. So far, he and his team have not succeeded, though they have cloned two cows and a cat.
They just might succeed in cloning Missy soon — or perhaps not for another five years.
Westhusin's experience with cloning animals leaves him upset by all this talk of human cloning. In three years of work on the Missy project, using hundreds upon hundreds of dog's eggs, the A&M team has produced only a dozen or so embryos carrying Missy's DNA. None have survived the transfer to a surrogate（代孕的）mother. The wastage of eggs and the many spontaneously aborted(流产，发育不全) fetuses（胎）may be acceptable when you're dealing with cats or bulls, he argues, but not with humans. “Cloning is incredibly inefficient, and also dangerous,” he says.
Even so, dog cloning is a commercial opportunity, with a nice research payoff. Ever since Dolly the sheep was cloned in 1996, Westhusin's phone has been ringing with people calling in hopes of duplicating their cats and dogs, cattle and horses. “A lot of people want to clone pets, especially if the price is right,” says Westhusin. Cost is no obstacle for Missy's mysterious billionaire owner; he's put up $3.7 million so far to fund A&M's research.
Contrary to some media reports, Missy is not dead. The owner wants a twin to carry on Missy's fine qualities after she does die. The prototype（原型；雏形）is, by all accounts, athletic, good-natured and super-smart. Missy's master does not expect an exact copy of her. He knows her clone may not have her temperament（气质、性情）. In a statement of purpose, Missy's owner and the A&M team say they are “both looking forward to studying the ways that her clones differ from Missy.”
Besides cloning a great dog, the project may contribute insight into the old question of nature vs. nurture. It could also lead to the cloning of special rescue dogs and many endangered animals.
However, Westhusin is cautious about his work. He knows that even if he gets a dog pregnant, the offspring, should they survive, will face the problems shown at birth by other cloned animals: abnormalities like immature lungs and heart and weight problems~ “Why would you ever want to clone humans,” Westhusin asks, “when we're not even close to getting it worked out in animals yet?”By “stupid endeavor”, Westhusin means to say that ________.
| A．human cloning is a foolish undertaking |
| B．animal cloning is absolutely impractical |
| C．human cloning should be done selectively |
| D．animal cloning is not worth the effort at all |
What does the second paragraph tell us about Westhusin's dog cloning project?
| A．Its success is already in sight. |
| B．It is progressing smoothly. |
| C．It is doomed to utter failure. |
| D．Its outcome remains uncertain. |
By cloning Missy, Mark Westhusin hopes to ________.
| A．study the possibility of cloning humans |
| B．search for ways to modify its temperament |
| C．find out the differences between Missy and its clones |
| D．examine the reproductive system of the dog species |
We learn from the passage that animal clones are likely to have ________.
| A．a bad temper |
| B．defective（有缺陷的、有毛病的）organs |
| C．immune deficiency |
| D．an abnormal shape |
What’s the best title of the passage?
| A．Cloning of Missy |
| B．Scientist Says ‘No’ to Human Cloning |
| C．Human Cloning Is Dangerous . |
| D．Westhusin Is Cautious about Cloning |
Researchers at the University of Bedforshire have developed a new technique for powering electronic device（装置）. The system, developed by Professor Ben Allen at the Centre for Wireless Research, uses radio waves as power.
Believed to be a world first, the team claims it could eventually eliminate (or get rid of) the need for conventional batteries. The university has now filed a patent application to secure the only rights to the technique.
Professor Allen and his team have created a system to use medium wave frequencies to replace batteries in small everyday devices like clocks and remote controls.
The new technique uses the “waste” energy of radio waves and has been developed as part of the university’s research into “power harvesting”. Professor Allen said that as radio waves have energy---like light waves, sound waves or wind waves---in theory, these waves could be used to create power.
“The emerging（新兴的）area of power harvesting technology promises to reduce our reliance on conventional batteries,” he said. “It’s really exciting way of taking power from sources other than what we would normally think of.”
The team is now waiting for the results of the patent application to secure recognition of the technique. Professor Allen said that the team’s achievements had all been done in their “spare time”. “Our next stage is to try and raise some real funds so that we can take this work forward and make a working prototype（模型）and maybe partner up with the right people and take this to a full product in due course,” he said.
“Power harvesting has a really important part in our future, because, just in this country, we dispose of somewhere between 20,000 and 30,000 tones of batteries in landfill（垃圾填理）sites every single year－that is toxic chemicals going into the ground.”
He added that development of the product could also be “commercially beneficial”. “The market for this is several billion pounds. We’ve seen market predictions for 2020 which have these kinds of figures, so there’s a lot of commercial potential in this area,” he said.
Pro-Vice Chancellor at the University of Bedfordshire, Professor Carsten Maple, said, “This type of work is a reflection of the university’s growing reputation and experience in conducting innovative（创新的）research.”From the text we know the new technique for powering electronic devices_____.
| A．can be applied to all electronic devices. |
| B．uses radio waves to create power. |
| C．has replaced conventional batteries. |
| D．produces many toxic chemicals. |
According to Professor Allen, power harvesting technology______.
| A．makes every use of radio waves. |
| B．takes power from usual sources. |
| C．reduces our dependency on conventional batteries. |
| D．aims at huge commercial benefits. |
What can we learn about Professor Allen and his team from the text?
| A．They have made use of radio waves in their daily life. |
| B．They have raised a big fund to support their research. |
| C．They have gained a patent for their new technology. |
| D．They mainly did their research in their spare time. |
What is Professor Carsten Maple’s attitude toward the new technique?
| A．Critical. | B．Favorable. |
| C．Conservative. | D．Negative. |
What is the text mainly about?
| A．A new technique to create power. |
| B．A crisis concerning conventional batteries. |
| C．Some special sources of power. |
| D．The development of power harvesting. |
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